While away in California, Sheryl Gill went out for a 10-kilometre run. The next thing she remembers is waking up in a foggy state, being told her heart had stopped and she was on her way to the hospital.

Two bystanders had administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) until emergency crews arrived at the scene.

Gill’s heart had been restarted with an automated external defibrillator (AED).

After two days of testing, the Oakville resident was airlifted to Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto.

After more tests, doctors discovered her left coronary artery was in the wrong place. It had been all her life and she needed surgery to correct it.

“It was a miracle I was still alive. This should have happened when I was much younger and in those days, they didn’t have AEDs or the technology. I probably wouldn’t have survived,” said Gill, who was 38 at the time of her cardiac arrest in 2007.

“They had no rationale for why I was still alive. One of my cardiologists said, ‘what are you doing here?’ He was shocked.”

This was because her left coronary artery was coming off the wrong side of the aorta.

This is no small thing. Every time her heart emptied, the aorta and the pulmonary artery filled and the little vessel in between was pinched off. Every time her heart beat.

Gill had fainted quite a bit throughout her life but doctors never knew the reason. She did have low blood pressure, but her condition could only have been discovered through imaging and physicians had no reason to expect that was necessary. A massage therapist and health coach, Gill was active and in good health.

Gill was in the hospital for one month.

She had an eight-hour, invasive surgery where they “cracked her in half” and used vascular tissue from her ankle to relocate the left coronary artery. She lost 15 pounds and 40 per cent of her blood. She had also suffered some brain damage.

When she went home, she was allowed to take stairs once every half hour, half a step at a time. She could not drive for six weeks.

She was exhausted and pale and had gone from running 10 km to eking out a walk around the block. She felt foggy and had to teach herself to read again. For about two years, she experienced chest pain.

In 2008, Gill received a call from the Heart and Stroke Foundation to see if she wanted to get involved. She started canvassing and then became a survivor speaker.

“My story hit a lot of points. I had a genetic heart defect. I had cardiac arrest. I was saved with an automated external defibrillator,” said Gill of why it is important to share her story.

“It has been extremely motivating and inspiring. The people I have met are amazing.

“Thanks to my healthy lifestyle, they were able to bring me back from the brink. Now I have even more motivation to teach simple health tools to my clients and people I speak to and promote an active lifestyle.”

Gill says she “can do anything” now.

And in fact, on Sunday (June 1), she will cycle 75 km in the 27th annual Heart and Stroke Foundation Becel Heart and Stroke Ride for Heart in Toronto.

This year’s goal is to raise $6 million to support research, health promotion and advocacy.